2018: 115th Congress 30%

The USA RIGHTS Act would prohibit the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from querying information gathered through Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) without obtaining a warrant. It would also provide narrow exceptions, such as the case of life-threatening emergencies or if the target has consented to a query followed by a warrant.
The amendment codifies the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s (FISC) ban on “abouts” collection. The National Security Agency (NSA) was forced to end “abouts” collection after the FISC determined that it was inconsistent with the Fourth Amendment.
Additionally, the USA RIGHTS Act, sponsored as an amendment to S. 139 as an amendment by Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), would prohibit reverse targeting, the collection of domestic communications, and the use of information obtained through Section 702 in criminal and civil court cases. It also brings a number of other important reforms to strengthen the oversight of the FISC and promote transparency.

"Yea" votes scored. Double Score

2: On Passage: FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act, S. 139✘ Yea

Key Vote 2: On Passage: FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act, S. 139

Despite some tweaks to the original text produced by the House Select Committee on Intelligence, the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act continues to represent an assault on the Fourth Amendment.
The Bill of Rights is a cornerstone of our constitutional republic, and crucial to defending the civil liberties of all American citizens. FISA has caused damage to the Fourth Amendment for years, and now is a critical time to support genuine reform, such as the USA RIGHTS Act.
The revised version of the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act remains the exact opposite of reform, and it is worse than current law. The bill would continue the backdoor search, with an utterly meaningless “warrant requirement.” The caveats proposed to this purported “warrant requirement” are an end-run around the Fourth Amendment.
The bill provides a path for the National Security Agency (NSA) to restart the practice of “abouts” collection. This means if a U.S. person mentions a potential surveillance target in a communication, the NSA can collect it, regardless of whether or not the U.S. person was communicating with anyone associated with the target.
When the NSA was forced to end “abouts” collection, a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) wrote that the practice raised “a very serious Fourth Amendment issue.” The judge also criticized the NSA for “an institutional lack of candor” for failing to disclose rule violations.

Reps. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Ted Budd (R-N.C.) have spearheaded a letter that urges House Republican leaders to hold a public vote to reinstate earmarks, should the House Republican Conference move forward on the tone-deaf notion of reinstating earmarks. Put simply, there must be a public and transparent process, including a recorded vote. The American public has a right to know which members are voting to reopen the favor factory by bringing back this currency of corruption. (Signers updated as of February 14, 2018.)

"Yea" votes scored.

4: On Motion to Concur: Bipartisan Budget Act, H.R. 1892✘ Yea

Key Vote 4: On Motion to Concur: Bipartisan Budget Act, H.R. 1892

The Schumer-McConnell spending deal, the Bipartisan Budget Act, is the worst-case scenario for fiscal conservatives under a Democratic president and Democrat-controlled Congress, but it is happening under a Republican president and Republican Congress. This is reckless spending, and a massive tax hike on future generations, made under the guise of “bipartisan negotiations.” This is deceitful, aggressive overspending by those elected to protect taxpayers. Leaving Americans with higher budget deficits likely over $1 trillion, and a national debt that will balloon to over $21 trillion, is no way to govern, and its weight falls squarely on the shoulders of taxpayers.
This deal makes clear that Republicans only care about deficits and out-of-control federal spending under a Democratic president. With a Republican president and Republican control of the House and Senate, there is no other conclusion that one can possibly draw.

"Nay" votes scored. Triple Score

5: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Walters Amendment to H.R. 1865✘ Yea

Key Vote 5: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Walters Amendment to H.R. 1865

The Walters amendment would establish that Section 230 of the CDA does not impair or limit actions taken against internet service providers for sex trafficking cases in which an internet service provider “knowingly assist[s], support[s], or facilitat[es]” a violation of sex trafficking laws. For something that sounds reasonable, it is quite the opposite. The inclusion of an overbroad “knowledge” standard has been abused again and again in other areas, such as copyright law, and will undoubtedly be abused in this case.
Even if passed, there is strong reason to believe that the law would be ineffective, and even counterproductive. The abusable “knowledge” standard actually will actually have the opposite of its intended effect -- disincentivizing those already working proactively to monitor content online to stop sex trafficking, by opening up their practices to legal liabilities.

The Trickett Wendler, Frank Mongiello, Jordan McLinn, and Matthew Bellina Right to Try Act amends federal law that currently prohibits the production and prescription of potentially lifesaving drugs that have already cleared the initial phase of the FDA’s approval process to allow certain patients with a terminal illness or a life-threatening condition access to these drugs. It also provides protection for manufacturers and prescribers from liability.

"Yea" votes scored.

7: On Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment: Consolidated Appropriations Act, H.R. 1625✘ Yea

Key Vote 7: On Motion to Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment: Consolidated Appropriations Act, H.R. 1625

Process aside, the spending levels appropriated in the bill are nothing short of fiscally disastrous. In February, Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act, H.R. 1892. This two-year budget agreement blew through the spending caps by nearly four times more than the 2013 two-year budget deal and nearly five times more than the 2015 two-year budget deal. This omnibus is an extension of the Bipartisan Budget Act. It appropriates discretionary spending at $1.291 trillion – $700 billion for defense and $591 billion for nondefense – which is $143 billion above the spending levels, or caps, established by the Budget Control Act for discretionary spending levels.

The passage of this CRA would do nothing to change the prohibition against discrimination in the Equal Credit Opportunity Act that the guidance cites. It would simply roll back the gross regulatory overreach of the CFPB in claiming for itself -- behind closed doors and a screen of smoke -- a power that Congress, in the law that created the CFPB, explicitly banned the CFPB from having. As Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said prior to the Senate vote, the CFPB “had to work its magic to find a way to regulate auto dealers.” Good governing is done through accountable and transparent processes, not magic.

"Yea" votes scored.

9: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Foxx Sugar Modernization to the Farm Bill, H.R. 2 ☐ Did Not Vote

Sponsored by Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.) and a group of nine other bipartisan legislators, this amendment reforms U.S. sugar policy. Raw sugar in the U.S. currently costs 84 percent more than it does on the world market. This is because of almost Soviet levels of government controls placed on the domestic sugar market that limits imports and production. This increases prices on consumers and makes it difficult for candy companies to maintain operations in America. The sugar modernization amendment is a long overdue reversal of this disturbing, protectionist trend.

"Yea" votes scored.

10: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Massie Raw Milk Freedom to the Farm Bill, H.R. 2☐ Did Not Vote

Sponsored by Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.), and Jared Polis (D-Colo.), this amendment prevents federal officials from interfering with the sales and transportation of unpasteurized milk across state lines. This ensures that nothing will get in the way of people who want fresh, unpasteurized milk, and those farmers who want to sell it to them.

"Yea" votes scored.

11: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Banks WOTUS Repeal to the Farm Bill, H.R. 2☐ Did Not Vote

Sponsored by Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), and a coalition of over a dozen other lawmakers, this amendment repeals the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Water Rule, which loosely defines “waters of the United States.” This rule violated private citizens’ property rights by giving the EPA authority to regulate waterways as small as a ditch in someone’s backyard. Repeal of this rule would be a victory for individual liberty.

"Yea" votes scored.

12: On Passage: Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act, S. 204☐ Did Not Vote

Key Vote 12: On Passage: Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act, S. 204

This bill would allow terminally ill patients to have access to potentially life-saving drugs when no other alternatives exist. It would ensure Americans, currently hampered by the bureaucracy of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), have the most fundamental right of all: to fight to save their own lives.

"Yea" votes scored.

13: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: FIRST STEP Act, H.R. 5682☐ Did Not Vote

Key Vote 13: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: FIRST STEP Act, H.R. 5682

The FIRST STEP Act would provide a modest incentive structure to eligible prisoners to earn time credits for successfully completing this programming and showing concrete progress toward reducing their risk of recidivism. Prison reform, and criminal justice reform more broadly, have been tried and proven effective at the state level since the “war on drugs” laws of the 1990s have proven ineffective. The lower recidivism rates resulting from these policies enhance public safety, while simultaneously saving taxpayer dollars and returning dignity and sense of worth to all Americans. This movement has been largely led by traditionally conservative states with similarly conservative governors, such as Texas, Georgia, and South Carolina and in more recent years Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kentucky. The FIRST STEP Act brings many of these reforms to the federal level with the goal of reducing recidivism and enhancing public safety.

The bill would provide targeted relief in the banking industry from onerous regulatory overreach into the financial sector created by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly known as “Dodd-Frank.” Having passed the Senate already, passage in the House would send the bill directly to President Trump’s desk to provide regulatory relief from this onerous law, affecting millions of Americans.

Approving this initial $15 billion rescissions request in full -- pulling back funds sitting in useless accounts that can only otherwise be used to spend more in the future -- is a task that conservatives in Congress should wholeheartedly endorse. It is one of few opportunities to exercise any semblance of fiscal discipline. It is only one small step towards actually tackling Washington’s out-of-control spending addiction, but it represents a chance to begin this fight.

"Yea" votes scored.

16: On Agreeing to the Norman Amendment to H.R. 5895✘ Nay

Key Vote 16: On Agreeing to the Norman Amendment to H.R. 5895

Sponsored by Rep. Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), this amendment would reduce the total amount of appropriations made available by $1.5 billion to match the fiscal year 2018 enacted level. Increasingly high spending levels appropriated by Congress year after year have buried our country in unsustainable debt. This amendment would realize the fact that our country needs to spend less and certainly cannot afford to spend any more than it did in fiscal year 2018.

"Yea" votes scored.

17: Signers to the Discharge Petition for H.Res. 873✔ Nay

Key Vote 17: Signers to the Discharge Petition for H.Res. 873

If passed, this petition would pave the way for the return of the Obama administration’s heavy-handed Internet regulations, which were overturned by the Restoring Internet Freedom Order. FreedomWorks will key vote the signers of this petition, treating signatures as an anti-freedom position for the purposes of our 2018 Congressional Scorecard.

"Nay" votes scored. Double Score

18: On Agreeing to the Mullin-Perry Amendment to H.R. 6147✔ Yea

Key Vote 18: On Agreeing to the Mullin-Perry Amendment to H.R. 6147

Sponsored by Reps. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) and Scott Perry (R-Pa.), this amendment would prohibit the use of funding for the enforcement of the EPA’s Methane Rule. The EPA estimates the annual cost of the Methane Rule at $520 million.

"Yea" votes scored.

19: On Agreeing to the Hice Amendment to H.R. 6147✘ Nay

Key Vote 19: On Agreeing to the Hice Amendment to H.R. 6147

Sponsored by Rep. Jody Hice (R-Ga.), this amendment would ensure that no funds would be available to the Environmental Justice Small Grants made by the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). These funds have been misused to fund projects that should be left to state and local leadership, and that are unrelated to the organization’s mission. If enacted, the Hice amendment will save taxpayers $70 million over the next ten years.

"Yea" votes scored.

20: On Agreeing to the Palmer-Walker-Meadows Amendment to H.R. 6147✔ Yea

Key Vote 20: On Agreeing to the Palmer-Walker-Meadows Amendment to H.R. 6147

Sponsored by Reps. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), Mark Walker (R-N.C.), and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), this amendment would prohibit the use of funds from being used to implement the District of Columbia's recently passed Health Insurance Requirement Amendment Act.

"Yea" votes scored.

21: On Agreeing to the Meadows Amendment to H.R. 6147✔ Yea

Key Vote 21: On Agreeing to the Meadows Amendment to H.R. 6147

Sponsored by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), this amendment would prohibit the use of funds to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) from being used to administer ObamaCare’s Multi-State Plan (MSP) Program. Section 1334 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires that OPM contract at least two national health insurance plans, one of which is statutorily required to be contracted with a nonprofit entity. The MSP Program was included in ObamaCare when the so-called “public option” proved politically untenable. The MSP Program could be used as a vehicle for a public option.

"Yea" votes scored.

22: On Agreeing to the Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution✔ Yea

Key Vote 22: On Agreeing to the Anti-Carbon Tax Resolution

Carbon taxes, like all government interventions in the economy, reward certain individuals and industries at the expense of everyone else. Independent studies into the potential impact of such a tax reveal that American families would have to pay higher electricity and fuel costs, and could lead to higher prices in other areas of the economy. This burden would be borne disproportionately by lower and middle income families, those who can least afford to do so.

"Yea" votes scored.

23: On Agreeing to the Conference Report to H.R. 6157✘ Yea

Key Vote 23: On Agreeing to the Conference Report to H.R. 6157

The Defense, Labor, and Health and Human Services (HHS) minibus, H.R. 6157 spends profligately on programs included in the minibus and includes a short-term continuing resolution (CR) for remaining appropriations bills into fiscal year 2019. This CR is an extension of the excessive spending agreed to under the Bipartisan Budget Act, which was passed by Congress in February and spent nearly $300 billion more than the previously established spending caps meant to control the rate of spending growth. H.R. 6157 is more of the same profligate spending resulting from a broken budget process and members unwilling to stand up for their campaign promises of shrinking government and reducing spending.

2017: 115th Congress 44%

Key Vote 1: On Passage: REINS Act - H.R. 26

Introduced by Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), the Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act requires congressional approval for economically significant rules promulgated by federal regulatory agencies. Rules defined as economically significant have an annual impact of $100 million or more. The Obama administration finalized more than 600 economically significant rules in less than eight years. The REINS Act brings a crucial check on executive power, reduces the influence of federal regulatory agencies, and begins to reclaim Congress’ constitutional power as the sole lawmaking authority under the Constitution.

"Yea" votes scored.

2: On Passage: Regulatory Accountability Act - H.R. 5✔ Yea

Key Vote 2: On Passage: Regulatory Accountability Act - H.R. 5

Introduced by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), the Regulatory Accountability Act seeks to reform the regulatory process, making it more transparent for the American people and more accountable to Congress. It also includes language to reverse the Chevron deference, which has been used by regulatory agencies to enact law without judicial review.

This resolution of disapproval of the Congressional Review Act nullifies the Securities and Exchange Commission's Disclosure of Payments by Resource Extraction Issuers rule. Promulgated under the authority of the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, or Dodd-Frank, this rule requires resource extraction issuers to include in annual reports the payment of any entity controlled by the regulated business to foreign governments or the United States government "for the purpose of the commercial development of oil, natural gas, or minerals." The Securities and Exchange Commission projects initial compliance costs between $239 million and $700 million and annual compliance costs between $96 million and $591 million.

"Yea" votes scored.

4: On Passage: H.J.Res. 38 - Resolution of Disapproval Against the Department of the Interior's Stream Protection Rule✔ Yea

Key Vote 4: On Passage: H.J.Res. 38 - Resolution of Disapproval Against the Department of the Interior's Stream Protection Rule

This resolution of disapproval of the Congressional Review Act nullifies the Department of the Interior's Stream Protection Rule. With an annual estimated cost of $81 million, according to the Department of the Interior's Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, the Stream Protection Rule is another blow to the coal industry, which was a favorite target of the Obama administration. The National Mining Association estimates that rule will lead to billions of dollars in lost revenues to state and local governments, as well as the loss of between 113,000 and 280,000 jobs.

This resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act nullifies a the Department of Defense, the General Services Administration, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's relating to the Federal Acquisition Regulation. This regulation requires federal contractors to disclose decisions on the reporting of violations of federal labor laws and creates paycheck transparency protections for employees of federal contractors. The rule is expected to cost employers $458.3 million in the first year, $413.7 million in the second year, and between $398.5 million and $400 million annually thereafter.

"Yea" votes scored.

6: On Passage: H.J.Res. 36 - Resolution of Disapproval Against the Bureau of Land Management’s Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule✔ Yea

Key Vote 6: On Passage: H.J.Res. 36 - Resolution of Disapproval Against the Bureau of Land Management’s Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule

This resolution of disapproval of the Congressional Review Act nullifies Bureau of Land Management’s Prevention, Production Subject to Royalties, and Resource Conservation Rule. With annual compliance costs between $114 million and $279 million, the so-called “venting and flaring” rule purports to reduce waste from “reduce the waste of natural gas from mineral leases administered” by the Bureau of Land Management. In reality, the purpose of the rule is to discourage oil and gas production on land overseen by the agency. The Bureau of Land Management estimates annual compliance costs between $114 million and $279 million.

"Yea" votes scored.

7: On Passage: H.J.Res. 57 - Resolution of Disapproval Against the Department of Education's Accountability and State Plans Rule✔ Yea

Key Vote 7: On Passage: H.J.Res. 57 - Resolution of Disapproval Against the Department of Education's Accountability and State Plans Rule

This resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act, which gives Congress authority to effectively nullify regulations submitted for review by federal agencies within 60 legislative days, would cancel the Department of Education’s Accountability and State Plans Rule. The Department of Education’s Accountability and State Plans Rule implements part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and leaves open a loophole that federal bureaucrats could exploit to force Common Core on states that haven't implemented the standards. Education officials from several states and local jurisdictions strongly opposed the rule when it was being crafted.

Introduced by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), the Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act would eliminate the antitrust exemption the health insurance industry currently has under the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945.
One of the main problems with the health care system today is the protections put in place by the federal government that cater to special interest groups. The Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act promotes the free market and competition by changing a law put in place nearly 70 years ago to reflect the current market we have today. It would also ensure that the health insurance industry complies with the same laws other businesses do.

The Small Business Health Fairness Act, H.R. 1101, sponsored by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas), would allow small businesses to join together through association health plans (AHPs) to provide employees with more affordable health insurance coverage.
ObamaCare has caused the cost of health insurance coverage to rise, making it difficult for small businesses to continue offering health insurance coverage to employees. The Small Business Health Fairness Act would help level the playing field for small businesses, which don’t have the negotiating power of larger firms and exemptions under Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and lower administrative costs related to health insurance.

"Yea" votes scored.

10: On Passage: Consolidated Appropriations Act - H.R. 244✘ Yea

Key Vote 10: On Passage: Consolidated Appropriations Act - H.R. 244

The process for the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which funds the federal government for the remainder of FY 2017, could not have been worse. This massive, nearly 1,700-page spending measure was negotiated behind closed doors between congressional leadership from both chambers and appropriators.
With a Republican-controlled Congress and a Republican president, this spending bill reflects Obama-era spending levels. The bill annualizes base discretionary spending for FY 2017 at $1.07 trillion. This spending level blows through the spending caps established by the Budget Control Act of 2011 by $30 billion. The bill spends an additional $106 billion for overseas contingency operations, disaster relief, and other spending, which isn’t counted toward the spending caps.
In total, the bill authorizes more than $1.175 trillion in annualized discretionary spending for FY 2017.
The bill also falls short of promoting conservative priorities. While the bill does renew the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program and does not include funding for ObamaCare’s cost-sharing subsidies, it allocates nearly $296 million to bail out Puerto Rico’s Medicaid program, preserves current spending levels for the Environmental Protection Agency, increases spending for the National Institutes of Health and the National Endowment for the Arts, and provides a bailout for a private sector labor union.

"Nay" votes scored. Double Score

11: On Passage: Probation Officer Protection Act - H.R. 1039✘ Yea

Key Vote 11: On Passage: Probation Officer Protection Act - H.R. 1039

While there is a need to protect law enforcement officers who are performing their duties, the Probation Officer Protection Act is an answer in search of a problem. Interference with a federal probation officer is already unlawful and current law already allows a law enforcement officer to arrest an individual or individuals who obstruct a federal probation officer during the performance of their duties.
The instances in which third parties obstruct a federal probation officer are rare.
While probationers have lost some of their Fourth Amendment rights, third parties have not. The Probation Officer Protection Act could lead to instances in which the Fourth Amendments rights of third parties are infringed because of overly broad language in Section 2(b) or interpretations of words in it, such as “intimidation” or “interference.”
Additionally, the “rules and regulations” under which the arrest authority of federal probation officers will be determined by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, not by Congress. This creates yet another situation in which Congress is relenting its constitutional authority to another branch of the federal government.

"Nay" votes scored.

12: On Passage: Financial CHOICE Act - H.R. 10✔ Yea

Key Vote 12: On Passage: Financial CHOICE Act - H.R. 10

The Financial CHOICE Act would eliminate the job-killing regulations that Dodd-Frank has instituted, rein in the CFPB, increase penalties for financial institutions who engage in illicit practices, and provide other reforms necessary to address the issues that earlier “well intentioned” legislation instituted.
While we are disappointed and frustrated that language in the bill that would have repealed the Durbin amendment was removed by the House Rules Committee, if passed, the Financial CHOICE Act will open up the market in the financial sector that would help create jobs and invite new businesses. This will drive compliance costs down, increase the number of banks that will be created, and provide the necessary oversight to the federal government.

"Yea" votes scored.

13: On Agreeing to the Amendment: McClintock Amendment to H.R. 2810✘ Nay

Key Vote 13: On Agreeing to the Amendment: McClintock Amendment to H.R. 2810

Sponsored by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif,), the amendment would strike the proposed prohibition against another round of Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC). A 2013 report by the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI) estimated that the first four rounds of BRAC save approximately $8 billion annually. The 2005 BRAC is saving nearly $4 billion annually.

"Yea" votes scored.

14: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Gosar Amendment to H.R. 2810✔ Yea

Key Vote 14: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Gosar Amendment to H.R. 2810

Sponsored by Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), the amendment would require that Secretary of Labor conduct determinations for the prevailing wage for defense-related construction projects. Currently, the Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division uses survey data that is unreliable and inflates the prevailing wage. The amendment would lower the cost of defense-related construction projects, saving taxpayers money.

This resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act (CRA) would cancel the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) arbitration rule. The CFPB’s arbitration rule is a giveaway to trial lawyers. The rule ostensibly bans contractual arbitration clauses related to consumer financial products offered by banks and other financial sector firms. This severely limits consumers’ ability to enter into arbitration during disputes. Trbitration is an easier and quicker process for consumers to resolve issues, but lawyers don’t make much money from this process. The rule, however, will encourage trial lawyers to pursue more class-action lawsuits, which take longer and result in smaller payouts to consumers.

"Yea" votes scored.

16: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Griffith Amendment to H.R. 3219✘ Nay

Key Vote 16: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Griffith Amendment to H.R. 3219

Key Vote 17: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Blackburn Amendment to H.R. 3219

Sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), this amendment would make a 1 percent across the board rescission to Division D of H.R. 3219 – the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act.

For the better part of a decade, congressional Republicans pledged to repeal ObamaCare. Between 2011 and 2015, the House passed legislation to fully repeal ObamaCare on four separate occasions before eventually using reconciliation for partial repeal.
Roughly 18 months ago, the House passed the Restoring Americans' Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act, H.R. 3762, with only three Republican defections. The bill repealed as much of ObamaCare as possible under the rules of reconciliation, including the tax and cost sharing subsidies, Medicaid expansion, and the taxes that came with the law. The bill would have reduced the federal budget deficit by $516 billion over ten years.
House Republicans must continue to work diligently to repeal ObamaCare. With the American health insurance system facing so many problems because of ObamaCare – among which are skyrocketing premiums and fewer choices in the non-group market – Republicans can’t give up.
A discharge petition is a legislative tool that requires the signatures of 218 members of the House to immediately bring a bill to the floor for a vote.

"Yea" votes scored.

19: On Agreeing to the Amendment: McClintock Amendment to H.R. 3354✘ Nay

Key Vote 19: On Agreeing to the Amendment: McClintock Amendment to H.R. 3354

Sponsored by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), this amendment would reduce funding for the Essential Air Service program by $150 million and transfer the savings to the Spending Reduction Account. The Essential Air Service subsidizes flights to small communities in the United States and its territories. These flights, however, are often half full or mostly empty, within driving distance, and heavily subsidized.

"Yea" votes scored.

20: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Budd Amendment to H.R. 3354✘ Nay

Key Vote 20: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Budd Amendment to H.R. 3354

Sponsored by Rep. Ted Budd (R-N.C.), this amendment would eliminate a planned $900 million earmark for an upgrade of an Amtrak rail line between Newark, New Jersey and New York City. Supposedly, the House has a moratorium on earmarks. Yet, this would be one of the largest ever included in an appropriations package. This amendment would redirect $474 million to deficit reduction and $400 million to New Starts Account.

"Yea" votes scored.

21: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Brooks Amendment to H.R. 3354✘ Nay

Key Vote 21: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Brooks Amendment to H.R. 3354

Key Vote 22: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Biggs Amendment to H.R. 3354

Sponsored by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), this amendment would cut funding for the Environmental Protection Administration’s (EPA) Environmental Programs and Management Account by $10.234 million and redirect the savings to the EPA’s Spending Reduction Account.

"Yea" votes scored.

23: On Motion to Concur to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 601 - To Increase the Debt Limit✘ Yea

Key Vote 23: On Motion to Concur to the Senate Amendment to H.R. 601 - To Increase the Debt Limit

As amended by the Senate, H.R. 601 would increase the debt limit and fund the federal government through December 8 without any spending or regulatory reforms. There are no guarantees that the situation will be any different when Congress revisits the issue in December. We have reached a critical point. At a time when grassroots conservative engagement is essential to pass priorities like fundamental tax reform, the administration and a Republican-controlled Congress are playing right into the hands of leftists like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. A debt limit increase without any spending or regulatory reforms would only further anger grassroots conservatives, risking their support for other priorities.

"Nay" votes scored.

24: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Blackburn Amendment to Division A of H.R. 3354✘ Nay

Key Vote 24: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Blackburn Amendment to Division A of H.R. 3354

Sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), this amendment would make a 1 percent across the board rescission to Division A, which authorizes appropriations for Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies.

"Yea" votes scored.

25: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Norman Amendment to H.R. 3354✘ Nay

Key Vote 25: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Norman Amendment to H.R. 3354

Key Vote 26: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Grothman Amendment to H.R. 3354

Sponsored by Rep. Glenn Grothman (R-Wis.), this amendment would reduce the funding for the National Labor Relations Board (NRLB) by $99 million and transfer the savings to the Spending Reduction Account.

"Yea" votes scored.

27: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Blackburn Amendment to Division F of H.R. 3354✘ Nay

Key Vote 27: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Blackburn Amendment to Division F of H.R. 3354

Sponsored by Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), this amendment would make a 1 percent across the board rescission to Division F, which authorizes appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies.

The Republican Study Committee’s (RSC) FY 2018 budget, introduced as an amendment by Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.), would reduce federal spending by more than $10 trillion over the ten-year budget window, bringing the budget into balance in FY 2023. The RSC’s budget would repeal ObamaCare and enact other patient-centered health insurance reforms, make Social Security and Medicare solvent, and reform federal welfare programs. It also promotes free trade, regulatory reform, and other free market, limited government principles.
The current text of H.Con.Res. 71 and the McClintock amendment include language that allows the House Ways and Means Committee to produce legislation to reform the tax code. Riddled with loopholes and special interest deductions, America’s tax code has become far too complex. According to the Tax Foundation, Americans spent 8.9 billion hours and $409 billion complying with the more than 74,000-page tax code.

"Yea" votes scored.

29: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree: $36.5 Billion of Disaster Relief Funding Without Spending Offsets✘ Yea

Key Vote 29: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Agree: $36.5 Billion of Disaster Relief Funding Without Spending Offsets

No one disagrees with the need for assistance for areas recently impacted by disasters. Nevertheless, the concern with the Additional Supplement Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act is that Congress is spending money without any spending offsets. In fact, the manner by which the bill will be brought to the House floor for consideration prohibits amendments that could offset the $36.5 billion appropriated.
Currently, the national debt is $20.4 trillion. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the projected budget deficit for FY 2017 and FY is $804 billion and $855 billion, respectively. Congress is only a few years away from the $1+ trillion deficits that Republicans frequently and rightly criticized under President Barack Obama. Long-term projections are even more ominous from a budgetary perspective. Sadly, Congress is once again avoiding difficult choices at the expense of future generations.

The budget resolution contains reconciliation instructions that allow the House Ways and Means Committee to produce legislation for fundamental tax reform.
It has been more than 30 years since Congress passed fundamental tax reform. Since that time, the tax code has become riddled with carve-outs that benefit politically connected special interests. Today, there are more than 74,000 pages in the tax code. According to the Tax Foundation, Americans spent 8.9 billion hours and $409 billion on tax compliance in 2016.
Congress has a generational opportunity to reform the tax code by consolidating and lowering tax rates, broadening the tax base, and promoting job creation and international competitiveness for American businesses. This will make the tax code fairer and simplify the filing process, allowing the vast majority of Americans to file their taxes on a postcard.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowers individual rates for the vast majority of taxpayers. In addition, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act nearly doubles the standard deduction, meaning Americans keep more of their hard-earned money, and doubles the child tax credit from $1,000 to $2,000. This bill also provides relief by doubling the exemption amount from the unfair death tax.
Pass-through business owners, who file their taxes on their individual tax return, will be able to take a 20 percent deduction. This lowers the tax burden currently faced by pass-through businesses, which, according to the Tax Foundation, employ 70 million people, and promotes fairness.
America’s business community will also see added growth as a result of the policy changes in this bill. The corporate tax rate will be lowered substantially from 35 percent to 21 percent, making American businesses more globally competitive and allowing them the resources they need to innovate and create jobs. It also eliminates confusion and complexity so job creators can focus on building their company and hiring working Americans.
This bill also repeals the harmful ObamaCare individual mandate, a coercive tax on Americans. It’s estimated that 80 percent of households subject to this tax earn less than $50,000 per year. This is an unnecessary hardship being placed on working Americans. The federal government should not punish individuals who cannot afford ObamaCare’s costly health insurance plans or decide it is not the best course for them.

House Republicans have long championed fiscal responsibility and opposed deficit spending. Unfortunately, this measure runs contrary to both of those promises, and would have devastating effects to our economy. Additionally, there is little accountability to ensure that the funds appropriated will be effectively used.
The bill provides a staggering $81 billion dollars for disaster relief with absolutely no offsetting cuts in other areas. This is the largest request for a single disaster relief package in United States history. Congress must make corresponding, necessary cuts to ensure that if this relief package is necessary, our economy is not adversely impacted as a result.
In addition, this amount of money is excessive and wasteful. It is nearly double the $44 billion that the White House initially requested. It is also substantially larger than each of the standalone disaster relief packages that were passed after Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy, $60 billion and $50.6 billion, respectively. This is not to mention that this new disaster relief bill comes in addition to the $52 billion already spent this year on Hurricanes Irma, Maria, and on wildfire relief.

This bill uses the budget procedure known as "reconciliation" to repeal most of ObamaCare. The greater portion of ObamaCare's worst portions are included in this repeal bill, including its many new taxes, the unconstitutional individual and employer mandates, the expansion of Medicaid, and the insurance premium subsidies. Passing this bill laid out the blueprint for how Congress would achieve full repeal once President Obama leaves the White House.

The Common Sense Nutrition Disclosure Act relaxed FDA regulations that required business owners who own 20 or more restaurants to provide calorie information on their menus. This is costly one-size-fits-all regulation, made possible by ObamaCare, that will cost business owners $1 billion.

The Email Privacy Act would amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA) to protect the privacy of email communications by requiring a warrant to access emails and other covered electronic communications by American citizens that are in the custody of a service provider and more than 180 days old. H.R. 699 passed the House Judiciary Committee by a unanimous vote. This legislation is an important step in protecting the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures and updating our laws for the 21st Century.

This legislation is an important step in protecting the First Amendment rights of Americans against harassment and coercion from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Introduced by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-Ill.), this bill stops the IRS from collecting and releasing information about donors to tax-exempt organizations, which would chill political speech. The legislation would protect the free speech of donors to nonprofit organizations by modifying IRS disclosure requirements of information such as donor names and addresses. Under H.R. 5053, tax-exempt organizations are required to report only information on donors who contribute $5,000 or more and who are either an officer of the organization or one of its five highest paid employees.

"Yea" votes scored.

6: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Sanford Amendment to H.R. 5293✔ Yea

Key Vote 6: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Sanford Amendment to H.R. 5293

H. Amdt. 1194 offered by Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), to H.R. 5293, to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2017, would retain the U.S. military’s current practice of providing cash stipend to recruits, allowing them to pick the footwear of their personal preference. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed by the House and Senate in May, changed current practice regarding footwear by including a “buy American” requirement, replacing the current cash allowance. This new language is a de facto earmark because it benefits one company: New Balance. The Department of Defense has concluded that the new language in the NDAA “would directly lead to a higher recruit injury rate at basic training,” The amendment would undo the New Balance provision, and halt an egregious example of crony capitalism that will cost taxpayers over $300 million and keeps this provision from coming into effect by not backing it.

"Yea" votes scored.

7: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Massie Amendment to H.R. 5293✘ Nay

Key Vote 7: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Massie Amendment to H.R. 5293

H. Amdt. 1204 offered by Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), to H.R. 5293, to the Department of Defense Appropriations Act 2017, protects the Fourth Amendment rights of Americans from unauthorized searches and seizures of property. The bill in its current form requires the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies to follow due process and obtain a warrant to collect the communications of American citizens. Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was written to only allow the government to collect the communications of foreigners, but a large quantity of American communications are bundled in during the process. By prohibiting backdoor spying, this measure represents a step forward in the battle to ensure privacy and security in the face of unconstitutional surveillance. The amendment also prohibits government agencies from requesting that U.S. companies build security vulnerabilities into their hardware or software in order to make it easier for the government to access them

The Anti-terrorism Information Sharing Is Strength Act expands Section 314 of the USA PATRIOT Act to a host of domestic crimes that have nothing to do with terrorism. The bill also surrenders more rulemaking authority to the Treasury Department at a time when the regulatory state is out of control.

This bill modifies the scope of judicial review of agency actions to authorize courts reviewing agency actions to decide de novo (without giving deference to the agency's interpretation) all relevant questions of law, including the interpretation of constitutional and statutory provisions, and rules made by agencies.

"Yea" votes scored. Double Score

13: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Perry Amendment to H.R. 5538✘ Nay

Key Vote 13: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Perry Amendment to H.R. 5538

H. Amdt.1346 offered by Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) which “reduces Appropriations made in this Act for the Environmental Protection Agency by 17 percent.” The cost of EPA’s Clean Power Plan to Pennsylvania consumers would be shifted back to the EPA under this statement

"Yea" votes scored.

14: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Palmer Amendment to H.R. 5538✘ Nay

Key Vote 14: On Agreeing to the Amendment: Palmer Amendment to H.R. 5538

H. Amdt. 1342 offered by Rep. Gary Palmer (R-Ala.) which “ensures that none of the funds made available by this Act may be used for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Enforcement Division.” The cost and extent of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Enforcement Division are addressed by this amendment

"Yea" votes scored.

15: On Agreeing to the Amendment: King Amendment to H.R. 5538✔ Yea

Key Vote 15: On Agreeing to the Amendment: King Amendment to H.R. 5538

In March 2015, the DOJ restricted the use of civil asset forfeiture in cases where structuring -- in which a bank account holder makes frequent deposits below $10,000 -- is the only offense suspected. Civil asset forfeiture is a pernicious form of government overreach by which federal agencies can seize cash or property without ever arresting, charging or prosecuting someone of a crime. The Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act codified this administrative change.

The continuing resolution through December 9, 2016 triggers a lame duck session of Congress, which is designed to bolster the failed Beltway practice of legislating at the expense of the American taxpayers instead of for them. The CR will continue this pattern of irresponsible spending by forcing a new spending measure to be considered in a lame duck when the current session of Congress is wrapping up and members are at their least accountable.

The motion to refer was a procedural move made by Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to block H.Res. 828 from consideration on the floor of the House. The motion sent the resolution to the House Judiciary Committee, effectively killing it in the 114th Congress. In September, FreedomWorks reserved the right to key vote against any motion that would prevent the resolution consideration.
The commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is appointed to a five-year term. John Koskinen took office in December 2013, meaning that he could, theoretically, continue to hold his current post in the next administration.

Key Vote 19: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: H.R. 4919 - Kevin and Avonte's Law

While this bill may have good intentions, there should not be federal intervention. The bill does not properly limit the rulemaking authority of the DOJ, and rather, opens shortens the amount of time available to examine and debate the content. “Federal standards must respect the ‘civil rights and liberties’ of people being tracked, including their Fourth Amendment rights. Data collected must be used ‘solely for the purpose of preventing injury or death.’” We cannot risk civil liberties or allow our privacies to be ignored.

2015: 114th Congress 48%

Key Vote 1: On Passage: H.R. 596 - To Fully Repeal ObamaCare

This bill fully repeals all of ObamaCare and also directs the relevant House committees to draft a patient-centered health care reform proposal to replace it. ObamaCare has failed to either make health insurance more affordable or to improve access or quality of care, and must be repealed in order to enact real reforms to accomplish those goals.

"Yea" votes scored.

2: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 72 to H.R. 749 - To End Federal Amtrak Subsidies✘ Nay

This amendment by Rep. Tom McClintock would completely end the federal subsidies for Amtrak. In spite of billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies, Amtrak has continued to run an inefficient service that racks up massive annual losses, and should not continue being propped up by the government.

"Yea" votes scored.

3: On Passage: H.R. 1105 - Death Tax Repeal Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 3: On Passage: H.R. 1105 - Death Tax Repeal Act

This bill would fully repeal the federal estate tax, better known to most as the "death tax". Not only does the death tax represent double (or more) taxation of an individual's property and belongings, it can also destroy individually owned family farms and small businesses.

"Yea" votes scored.

4: On Passage: H.R. 1560 - Protecting Cyber Networks Act✘ Yea

Key Vote 4: On Passage: H.R. 1560 - Protecting Cyber Networks Act

While this bill is intended to make information sharing on cyber threats easier, it also sacrifices many privacy protections in the process. The bill fails to ensure that companies and government agencies are not sharing personally identifiable information when they report cyber attacks. Worse, the bill requires that cyber threat information be shared with the NSA. Although well-intentioned, the privacy loopholes in this bill turn in from a "cybersecurity" bill to a "cybersurveillance" bill.

"Nay" votes scored.

5: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 172 to H.R. 2028: To Reduce Spending in Energy and Water by $2.95 Billion✘ Nay

Key Vote 5: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 172 to H.R. 2028: To Reduce Spending in Energy and Water by $2.95 Billion

This amendment by Rep. Tom McClintock would eliminate the Department of Energy funding for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and Fossil Energy programs, and would sharply reduce funding for nuclear energy programs. Removing these market-distorting subsidies would save nearly $3 billion.

"Yea" votes scored.

6: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 503 to H.R. 2685 - To Limit Surveillance of U.S. Citizens Under Section 702 of FISA✘ Nay

Key Vote 6: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 503 to H.R. 2685 - To Limit Surveillance of U.S. Citizens Under Section 702 of FISA

Currently, the NSA and FBI can access the electronic communications of U.S. citizens collected without a specific warrant under section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This amendment by Reps. Massie and Lofgren would defund those activities. It would also prevent the NSA from requesting that security vulnerabilities be built into private products.

"Yea" votes scored.

7: On Passage: H.R. 2042 - Ratepayer Protection Act of 2015✔ Yea

Key Vote 7: On Passage: H.R. 2042 - Ratepayer Protection Act of 2015

This bill would delay the EPA from implementing their economically devastating new greenhouse gas emissions rule for existing power plants. If implemented, this rule would cause many coal-fired power plants to shut down, dramatically increasing energy costs for millions of Americans.

"Yea" votes scored.

8: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 53 to H.R. 5 - To prevent the Secretary of Education from using grants or waivers to coerce states into adopting or keeping Common Core or other national standards.✔ Yea

Key Vote 8: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 53 to H.R. 5 - To prevent the Secretary of Education from using grants or waivers to coerce states into adopting or keeping Common Core or other national standards.

This amendment by Rep. Zeldin would greatly strengthen current prohibitions against coercing states to adopt national educational standards. Specifically, it prohibits the Secretary of Education from conditioning any grant money or waivers upon states keeping Common Core or any other specific national curriculum standards.

"Yea" votes scored.

9: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 64 to H.R. 5 - To establish grants for early childhood education programs in the states✔ Nay

Key Vote 9: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 64 to H.R. 5 - To establish grants for early childhood education programs in the states

This amendment by Rep. Polis (introduced for Rep. Meng) would establish grants to entice states to subsidize early childhood education (Head Start) programs. This would entail an effective federalization of pre-K education at taxpayer expense. Not only does the federal government have no place centralizing yet another aspect of education, repeated studies have shown that Head Start and similar pre-K education programs are ineffective.

"Nay" votes scored.

10: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 656 to H.R. 6 - To ensure that new spending under H.R. 6 counts as normal spending that counts towards the budget caps✘ Nay

Key Vote 10: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 656 to H.R. 6 - To ensure that new spending under H.R. 6 counts as normal spending that counts towards the budget caps

As written, H.R. 6 would create nearly $2 billion per year in new mandatory spending (not subject to budget caps). This amendment by Rep. Brat would force Congress to account for the new spending under the Budget Control Act caps and therefore to find equivalent cuts elsewhere.

This bill, entitled the “REINS Act”, would require a vote in Congress on any “major” regulation (over $100 million in economic impact) issued by the executive branch before it could be enforced on the American people. The REINS Act would thus restore much of Congress' lawmaking authority that it has ceded to the executive branch over the past century.

"Yea" votes scored.

12: Discharge Petition to Bring a Reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank Directly to the House Floor☐ Did Not Vote

Key Vote 12: Discharge Petition to Bring a Reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank Directly to the House Floor

In an uncommon move, 218 Members of the House of Representatives signed a discharge petition regarding H.R. 597 - a bill to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States. This successful petition bypasses the House Committee on Finance, in which the bill had been stalled, bringing the bill straight to the House floor. The Export-Import bank serves as a taxpayer-backed conduit for corporate welfare, and should be left expired.
Only signers of the petition are scored for this vote.

This amendment by Rep. Justin Amash would remove the section of the bill that would provide $500 million in new spending for the Maritime Security Fleet program. This new spending, while a relatively small amount was quietly added into the bill without any vote, ignoring the amendment and committee process. This spending represents a shallow attempt to court a narrow special interest group to gain votes for the bill - essentially violating the House ban on earmarks.

This bill would reauthorize the U.S. Export-Import Bank through 2019. The Ex-Im Bank's loans and guarantees distort trade markets, and mostly flow to a small number of immense, politically connected corporations. Congress allowed the Ex-Im Bank's charter to expire in June, and this 80-year-old corporate welfare program should stay closed.

"Nay" votes scored.

15: On Motion that the House Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment: H.R. 1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015✘ Yea

Key Vote 15: On Motion that the House Concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment: H.R. 1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

This bill was the vehicle for the budget agreement that will spend $80 billion beyond the Budget Control Act caps over two years, along with $16 billion in new defense spending that doesn't count towards the caps. The supposed offsets to this spending are mostly either gimmicks or long-term, while the new deficit spending is immediate. The bill also suspends the debt ceiling through March of 2017, effectively giving the government a blank check for that period.

"Nay" votes scored. Double Score

16: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 787 to H.R. 22 - To prevent funds in this act from being used to enforce Davis-Bacon wage controls✔ Yea

Key Vote 16: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 787 to H.R. 22 - To prevent funds in this act from being used to enforce Davis-Bacon wage controls

This amendment by Rep. Steve King would effectively prevent Davis-Bacon wage controls from applying to the infrastructure projects funded by this highway funding bill. These onerous wage requirement were designed to shut out competition with unions for federal contracts, and end up costing taxpayers huge sums of money.

"Yea" votes scored.

17: On Passage: S.J.Res. 24 - Disapproving of the EPA Rule to Increase Emissions Standards for Existing Power Plants✔ Yea

This resolution invokes the Congressional Act to disapprove of the recent EPA rule that greatly increases emissions restrictions on existing coal-fired power plants. This tremendously destructive regulation would greatly increase energy costs in the many states which rely heavily upon coal-fired power plants for their electricity. These cost increases damage overall economic growth, and in particular lower the standard of living of lower-income earners.

"Yea" votes scored.

18: On Passage: S.J.Res 23 - Disapproving of the EPA Rule to Increase Emissions Standards for New Power Plants✔ Yea

Key Vote 18: On Passage: S.J.Res 23 - Disapproving of the EPA Rule to Increase Emissions Standards for New Power Plants

This resolution invokes the Congressional Act to disapprove of the recent EPA rule that greatly increases emissions restrictions on any future coal-fired power plants. This rule tightens emissions standards to the point where it will likely not be economically feasible to build new coal-fired electric plants, crippling one of the most abundant and cost-effective sources of energy in America.

"Yea" votes scored.

19: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 861 to H.R. 8 - To Lift the Ban on U.S. Crude Oil Exports✔ Yea

Key Vote 19: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 861 to H.R. 8 - To Lift the Ban on U.S. Crude Oil Exports

This amendment by Rep. Joe Barton would finally lift the decades-old ban on exporting U.S. crude oil. This would allow the U.S. to take better advantage of our recent major surge in oil production, creating thousands of new jobs and boosting economic growth in the process.

This bill would renew federal highway funding to states for a period of five years. However, it does not solve the structural deficit within the Highway Trust Fund, doesn't eliminate the wasteful spending that takes away from funding roads, and doesn't offset that spending in any real way. Furthermore, this bill contains a reauthorization of the expired Export-Import Bank, in order to prevent having a standalone vote on renewing such a direct corporate welfare fund.

This omnibus appropriations bills for Fiscal Year 2016 funds former Speaker Boehner's budget-busting deal to the tune of $50 billion above the budget caps for 2016. It contains several very troubling legislative riders a well, including more funding for the IMF, and a massive new cybersecurity information sharing program that violates consumers' privacy and due process. It also fails to include most of the amendments from the appropriations process that would have defunded key, harmful federal regulations.

This bill funded the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year (through September, 2014). It spends $45 billion more than the budget caps established in 2011, and perpetuates a vast amount of wasteful spending from previous years. Lawmakers were also given almost no time to read this 1,500 page spending bill.

This final version of the Farm Bill, reconciled between the House and Senate, actually undoes some of the already modest reforms to crop insurance and food stamps that were previously in the bill. This five-year reauthorization of the Farm Bill will spend nearly a trillion dollars over ten years, and remains loaded with corporate welfare and special carve-outs for well-connected agricultural corporations.

"Nay" votes scored.

3: On Passage: S. 540 - Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act✘ Yea

Key Vote 3: On Passage: S. 540 - Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act

This bill suspends the debt limit until March 15th of 2015, allowing the president to potentially run up as much debt as he pleases during that time period. The debt is already projected to increase by about $1 trillion over that period, to over $18 trillion. Meanwhile, this debt ceiling suspension contains no reforms to curb spending whatsoever.

This bill would effectively undo the damaging Supreme Court decision in the case of Kelo v. New London, which held that the government can redistribute property from one individual to another if it serves a community's "economic development. The bill stops federal, state, and local governments from exercising eminent domain to seize private property for the purpose of "economic development" or any other transfer from a private owner to another private entity. It also provides legal rights for property owners to sue the government for abuse of eminent domain.

"Yea" votes scored.

5: On Passage: H.R. 3865 - Stop Targeting of Political Beliefs by the IRS Act✔ Yea

This bill would stop the IRS for one year from finalizing a proposed regulation that would stop grassroots non-profit groups from engaging in political free speech. On the heels of the IRS targeting of conservative groups, the regulation that this bill would delay would seemingly finish their job by excluding tea parties and other grassroots groups from any role in the political process.

This bill would delay a major reform to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) that would have returned some semblance of market rates to flood insurance premiums. Currently, NFIP is over $25 billion in debt because homeowners in frequently flooded areas do not have to pay an amount that is equal to the risk they incur, meaning that the government takes a loss when the inevitable floods occur. By delaying the scheduled reforms, the NFIP will require a taxpayer bailout for billions of dollars.

Delaying Obamacare's unconstitutional individual insurance mandate extends the same exception to the law that was extended to businesses with the delay of the employer mandate. This delay would also prevent Obamacare from taking full effect, and provides an extended window to work on defunding, delaying, or dismantling the entire law.

This bill would stop the EPA from imposing proposed regulations that would effectively ban new coal-fired power plants from ever being constructed. It would require the EPA to take into account current achievable technologies from existing plants when setting future emission reductions, stopping them from promulgating impossible regulations that would kill the coal industry.

"Yea" votes scored.

9: On Passage: H.R. 1871 - Baseline Reform Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 9: On Passage: H.R. 1871 - Baseline Reform Act

This bill would require that all government budget calculations be made based upon the spending levels for the current fiscal year. Currently, budget projections assume an automatic increase in federal spending based upon the rate of inflation, meaning that even stopping the growth of federal spending would be scored as a cut. Baseline budgeting would force Congress to account for this "automatic" growth of government spending honestly.

"Yea" votes scored.

10: On the Amendment: H.Amdt 671 to H.R. 4435 - Preventing NDAA funds from being used to implement climate change initiatives✔ Yea

Key Vote 10: On the Amendment: H.Amdt 671 to H.R. 4435 - Preventing NDAA funds from being used to implement climate change initiatives

This amendment specifically prevents Defense funding from being used to implement any climate change recommendations that are based upon controversial international and U.S. scientific assessments, including the IPCC's 5th Assessment Report, the U.S. Global Change Research Program National Climate Assessment, or the United Nations Agenda 21 sustainable development plan.

"Yea" votes scored.

11: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 696 to H.R. 4660 - To eliminate the Economic Development Administration✘ Nay

Key Vote 11: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 696 to H.R. 4660 - To eliminate the Economic Development Administration

Key Vote 12: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 742 to H.R. 4660 - To reduce funding for CJS Appropriations by 1%

This amendment by Rep. Marsha Blackburn would reduce the spending levels in the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies appropriations bill by 1% across the board, with the exception of funding for the FBI.

"Yea" votes scored.

13: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 815 to H.R. 4745 - To prohibit federal funds for the purchase of license plate cameras✘ Nay

Key Vote 13: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 815 to H.R. 4745 - To prohibit federal funds for the purchase of license plate cameras

This amendment by Rep. John Fleming would prevent federal funding for state and local license plate scanning programs. Mass scanning of license plates has the potential to be as invasive of individuals' privacy as the NSA's phone data collection, and should not be subsidized federally.

This amendment by Rep. Thomas Massie requires the NSA and other intelligence agencies to obtain specific warrants in order to access communications metadata collected on American citizens. It also stops intelligence agencies from using "backdoor" security vulnerabilities to access companies' data.

"Yea" votes scored.

16: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 992 to H.R. 4923 - To reduce or eliminate funding for three Department of Energy programs✘ Nay

Key Vote 16: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 992 to H.R. 4923 - To reduce or eliminate funding for three Department of Energy programs

This amendment by Rep. Tom McClintock would eliminate all funding for the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program and the Fossil Energy Research and Development Program, and reduce funding for the Nuclear Energy Programs, saving taxpayers $3.1 billion dollars.

"Yea" votes scored.

17: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 1049 to H.R. 4923 - To reduce non defense spending in the bill to 2008 levels✘ Nay

Key Vote 17: On the Amendment: H.Amdt. 1049 to H.R. 4923 - To reduce non defense spending in the bill to 2008 levels

This amendment by Rep. Richard Hudson would reduce spending in the Energy & Water Appropriations bill by 7.4831%, which would return spending in the bill to 2008 levels. Defense and nuclear security programs would be exempted from the cut.

This bill bails out the nearly depleted Highway Trust Fund through May of 2015, using revenue gimmicks to supposedly offset most of the cost. The Highway Trust fund desperately needs reform instead of merely continuing to receive periodic taxpayer bailouts.

"Nay" votes scored.

19: On Passage: H.R. 5078 - Waters of the United States Regulatory Overreach Protection Act✔ Yea

This bill would stop the Environmental Protection Agency from finalizing a new rule that would allow them to regulate practically any water under the Clean Water Act. The CWA was intended to regulate "navigable waterways", but the EPA wants to be able to regulate everything from irrigation ditches to ponds to dry creek beds - which would massively infringe upon property owners' rights to develop their own land.

"Yea" votes scored.

20: On Passage: H.R. 24 - Federal Reserve Transparency Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 20: On Passage: H.R. 24 - Federal Reserve Transparency Act

This bill would require a full and comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve. The central bank of the United States has operated in secrecy for over a century, and should be fully open to Congressional and public scrutiny.

This trillion-plus dollar spending bill was crafted behind closed doors and was packed with dozens of policy riders that Congress never had a chance to vote on individually. It continues to fund the federal government fully, with zero reforms to the government's out-of-control spending.

The funding for Hurricane Sandy relief efforts was appropriated as "emergency" funding, meaning that it was above and beyond the amount of spending allowed by existing budget caps. This amendment by Rep. Mulvaney would simply offset a large portion of this emergency spending by making a slight, across-the-board reduction in discretionary spending.

This amendment, sponsored by Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11), would add another $33 billion to the Disaster Relief Act, bringing the total spending in the bill to over $50 billion. Although the bill is supposedly to help the victims of Hurricane Sandy, the better portion of this amendment funds unrelated programs such as community development block grants. The "emergency" spending is also not offset, meaning that it will add to the federal deficit.

"Nay" votes scored.

3: H.R. 152 - Disaster Relief Appropriations Act✘ Yea

Key Vote 3: H.R. 152 - Disaster Relief Appropriations Act

This bill is an "emergency" appropriations bill that contains $50.1 billion in spending that is supposed to aid those affected by Hurricane Sandy. In reality, however, most of the spending will not provide acute disaster relief, and much of it is not even scheduled to be spent until 2014 or later. Thus, the bill functions more like a stimulus than true disaster relief and its spending should be appropriated through the budget process instead of as emergency spending that adds to the federal deficit.

This bill raises the statutory limit on the public debt (the "debt ceiling") by whatever amount is necessary to reach May 19th, 2013. Although the bill theoretically contains a "no budget, no pay" provision conditional upon the Senate passing a budget resolution, in reality the provision has no teeth.
FreedomWorks insists that further increases in the debt ceiling by accompanied by proportional decreases in federal spending in order to address the ever-increasing federal debt, which at the time of this bill stood at $16.4 trillion. Instead, this bill amounts to a "clean" debt ceiling hike, accompanied by the unenforceable promise of spending reforms at a later date.

"Nay" votes scored.

5: H.Res. 99 - Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 933 (the Continuing Resolution to fund the United States government)✘ Yea

Key Vote 5: H.Res. 99 - Rule providing for consideration of H.R. 933 (the Continuing Resolution to fund the United States government)

This closed rule does allow for any extended debate or amendments to the Continuing Resolution, thus allowing a bill that spends at the rate of over $1 trillion per year to be passed without any input from individual Members of Congress on the floor of the House.

This bill would repeal ObamaCare entirely, stopping the government takeover of our health care. If allowed to take effect, ObamaCare will greatly increase health insurance costs, reduce the quality of care, and eventually lead to direct rationing of care. It also contains unconstitutional mandates that attempt to force people to buy health insurance, an unprecedented use of federal power.

The so-called "Farm Bill" is actually a combination of agricultural policy and welfare, with food stamps accounting for 80 percent of the bill's nearly trillion dollars in projected spending. Aside from failing to contain the multitude of faults within the rapidly-expanding food welfare programs, the agricultural portion of the bill is an amalgam of direct corporate welfare for insurance companies and farm corporations and special carve-outs and price supports for the specific industries with the best lobbyists.

This amendment by Rep. McClintock would cut $1.544 billion from various research and development programs for alternative energy. The free market can take care of researching and development the next generation of energy technologies far more efficiently than the federal government can, without the distorting effect of the government picking winners and losers.

This version of the Farm Bill contains only the actual agricultural side of the earlier bill, leaving food stamps to be considered as their own bill. Unfortunately, this bill actually makes the Farm Bill worse by making the billions in subsidies to farm corporations and dozens of special hand-outs to favored industries permanent, instead of making free market reforms. The bill also still contains the brand new, unnecessary "shallow-loss" crop insurance entitlement, which will actually increase the Farm Bill's cost.

"Nay" votes scored.

10: H.R. 2668 - Fairness for American Families Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 10: H.R. 2668 - Fairness for American Families Act

This bill would simply delay the enactment of ObamaCare's "individual mandate" for one year, extending the same temporary reprieve for individuals that was granted to businesses when the administration delayed the employer mandate. Delaying the individual mandate effectively forces a delay of the entire law, and buys time to work to defund and dismantle ObamaCare entirely.

This amendment to the DoD Appropriations Act, by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), protects a basic 4th Amendment right by requiring that the NSA can only gather electronic data from people who are actively under an investigation with approval of the FISA court. This is basic due process under the law - you need a specific warrant to search and seize an individual's physical property; the same should apply to that individual's communications and digital property.

"Yea" votes scored.

12: On the Amendment: H.Amdt.422 to H.R. 2610 - To eliminate the Essential Air Service program✘ Nay

Key Vote 12: On the Amendment: H.Amdt.422 to H.R. 2610 - To eliminate the Essential Air Service program

This amendment to the T-HUD Appropriations bill would eliminate the Essential Air Service program, a wasteful federal subsidy that supports seldom-used rural airfields. This would save taxpayers $100 million.

"Yea" votes scored.

13: H.Amdt. 448 to H.R. 367 - To require that Congress be allowed to vote on any tax or levy upon carbon emissions✔ Yea

Key Vote 13: H.Amdt. 448 to H.R. 367 - To require that Congress be allowed to vote on any tax or levy upon carbon emissions

This amendment by Rep. Scalise (R-LA) effectively prevents the executive branch from levying any form of carbon tax without Congressional approval. Since a carbon tax would be tremendously destructive to the economy as a whole, this measure would hopefully make such a tax far less likely to pass.

This bill, entitled the “REINS Act”, would require a vote in Congress on any “major” regulations issued by the executive branch before it could be enforced on the American people. The REINS Act would thus restore accountability and protect citizens’ rights by giving elected officials a voice in all major regulations issued.

"Yea" votes scored.

15: H.R. 2009 - Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 15: H.R. 2009 - Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care Act

This bill would prevent the IRS from implementing or enforcing any aspect of ObamaCare. Under the law as written, the IRS would have access to a massive new data source called the "Federal Data Services Hub", which would give the IRS employees charged with enforcing ObamaCare's mandates unprecedented access to information about each and every taxpayer. In the wake of multiple scandals in which IRS employees deliberately leaked sensitive personal information on political candidates and groups, it makes little sense to put them in charge or our health care.

Congressman Mark Meadows solicited signatures for a letter to Speaker Boehner, asking that the House Republicans stand firm in their commitment to defund ObamaCare through the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. Members who signed the letter affirmed their commitment to resist ObamaCare using a must-pass bill (the CR), rather than continuing to take ineffectual, symbolic votes to that effect.

This initial Continuing Resolution offered by the House during the debate over the funding for ObamaCare fully funds the entire federal government except for any further implementation or operation of ObamaCare. The premium increases, dropped insurance policies, and delays of major portions of ObamaCare made clear that this poorly-written law could not succeed, and this Continuing Resolution was the last chance to stop ObamaCare's harmful policies before they took full effect.

H.R. 2775 was used as the vehicle for the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. This bill funds the government fully (including ObamaCare) through January 15th of 2014, suspends the debt ceiling completely until February of 2014, and obliges both chambers of Congress to go to conference on a full-year budget. In other words, this CR allows for more uncontrolled spending and debt, with no reforms to either, does nothing to address ObamaCare, and potentially promises more future spending if a budget agreement is reached.

This bill would protect individual states' rights to develop energy resources within their borders by declaring state regulations on hydraulic fracturing to have supremacy over those issued by the federal EPA. Hydraulic fracturing (or "fracking") has proven to be a safe and economical way to develop America's vast natural gas resources, and in those state which choose to allow fracking thousands of new jobs will be created as a result.

"Yea" votes scored.

20: H.R. 1900 - Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 20: H.R. 1900 - Natural Gas Pipeline Permitting Reform Act

This bill simply expedites the permitting process for establishing natural gas pipelines. Currently the federal government has slowed down pipeline construction by as much as several years in many instances, and this bill would require that the permitting process be finished within one year of a permit request being filed.

This is the final House vote to pass the budget deal negotiated by Congressman Paul Ryan and Senator Patty Murray. The deal breaks the budget caps established in 2011 by $63 billion over two years, while claiming to contain a net deficit reduction over ten years by raising fees and making other minor cuts. With no guarantee that future congresses will obey the scheduled spending cuts, this bill delivers increases in both spending and taxes in exchange for no meaningful reforms.

2012: 112th Congress 25%

The bill would repeal the Community Living Assistance Services and Support (CLASS) Act. The CLASS Act is the long-term care entitlement, which even the Dept. of Health and Human Services admits is prohibitively expensive. Voting to repeal CLASS at this time advances the larger goal of fully repealing President Obama's unworkable Affordable Care Act.

"Yea" votes scored.

2: H.R. 3578 - To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to reform the budget baseline✔ Yea

Key Vote 2: H.R. 3578 - To amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to reform the budget baseline

The bill would reform the way that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) calculates the baseline spending assumptions that are the basis for all of its projections of future spending. The legislation would remove the assumption from CBO calculations that spending will increase each year in proportion to inflation, which makes Congress’ new spending each year look like less than it is. The Baseline Reform Act would make the federal budget process more honest and transparent.

FreedomWorks opposes this bill. It would allow the Department of Commerce to continue issuing countervailing duty (CVD) on imports from China, Vietnam and other countries deemed non-market economies (NMEs). H.R. 4105 would hurt U.S. consumers and importers while further escalating a trade war with China. Like other taxes, the cost of tariffs, including “countervailing duties” are only paid by consumers.

The amendment would replace Paul Ryan's budget proposal, which does not balance until after 2040, with the Republican Study Committee's alternative proposal, which would balance in five years. The RSC's budget also simplifies the tax code, reforms Medicare and Social Security, and caps federal spending at just below 2008 levels. The RSC budget is the kind of aggressive but workable reform we need in order to get America back on the path to fiscal sustainability.

This bill would keep student loan rates at 3.4 percent instead of allowing them to rise to their 2007 level of 6.8 percent. Artificially keeping student loan rates low not only costs taxpayers billions of dollars, it also distorts markets by encouraging students to take loans that they otherwise may not have been able to afford, which in turn encourages colleges to charge more for tuition.

"Nay" votes scored.

6: H.Amdt.1039 to H.R. 5326 - to eliminate the Economic Development Administration✘ Nay

This amendment would eliminate the Economic Development Administration (EDA), which is an obsolete program whose grants are being used by many Members of Congress to essentially create earmarks. Eliminating this useless program would also save over $500 million per year.

This amendment would reduce spending for each of the agencies funded by this bill by 12.2%, exempting certain key organizations such as the U.S. Marshals and the FBI. This would save $2.7 billion in FY 2014 and apply that money towards reducing the budget deficit.

"Yea" votes scored.

9: To Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended: H.R. 2072 - To reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, and for other purposes✘ Yea

Key Vote 9: To Suspend the Rules and Pass, as Amended: H.R. 2072 - To reauthorize the Export-Import Bank, and for other purposes

FreedomWorks opposes reauthorizing the Export-Import bank because it is essentially a corporate welfare program that hands out trade subsidies to politically connected companies. The government could better improve exports by reducing regulations and corporate taxation, which would render American manufacturing more competitive with the rest of the world.

This amendment would eliminate the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Program, which directly subsidizes green energy companies. This program is pure corporate welfare, with the government picking winners and losers in the energy sector, and eliminating it would save taxpayers $1.45 billion annually.

"Yea" votes scored.

11: H.Amdt. 1185 to H.R. 5325 - To defund the Fossil Fuel Research and Development programs✘ Nay

Key Vote 11: H.Amdt. 1185 to H.R. 5325 - To defund the Fossil Fuel Research and Development programs

This amendment would eliminate much of the Department of Fossil Energy, another federal agency which uses taxpayer dollars to subsidize green energy research. This would save nearly half a billion dollars in 2013, and return more research and development to the private sector where it belongs.

"Yea" votes scored.

12: H.Amdt.1217 to H.R. 5325 - to cut $3.1 billion from Energy and Water appropriations.✘ Nay

This amendment would cut nearly 10% from the Energy and Water Appropriations bill, for an annual savings of $3.1 billion. This cut would comply with the Republican Study Committee's budget, which aims to balance the federal budget in five years.

This motion by Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA) would instruct the House conferees to insist upon capping highway spending at the amount taken in by the gas tax. The gas tax was intended to be the sole revenue source for the Highway Trust Fund, but the federal government has routinely outspent their revenue supply in the past decades, requiring periodic bailouts of the Trust Fund.

"Yea" votes scored.

14: H.R. 5972 - Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.✘ Yea

Key Vote 14: H.R. 5972 - Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development.

This bill provides funding for the Departments of Transportation and Housing & Urban Development. It increases funding for such unnecessary programs as Amtrak, the Essential Air Service, and community development block grants. The bill fails to make any real cuts to spending, in spite of the country's massive deficits.

"Nay" votes scored.

15: On the Conference Report: H.R. 4348 - To provide an extension of Federal-aid highway ... transit, and other programs✘ Yea

Key Vote 15: On the Conference Report: H.R. 4348 - To provide an extension of Federal-aid highway ... transit, and other programs

FreedomWorks opposes this bill because it reauthorizes federal highway spending at a level that far exceeds its revenue from the gas tax. This bill also includes an amendment which continues the artificial lowering of student loan rates, a practice which encourages students to incur debt that they cannot afford to pay back.

This bill would fully repeal the unaffordable and unpopular health care law popularly known as "ObamaCare". ObamaCare fails to either protect patients or make health care more affordable, and must be repealed and replaced with free-market, patient-centered reforms to bring competition into the industry and drive down costs for all consumers.

This amendment selectively cuts $1.07 billion from the Department of Defense's Appropriations, exempting military pay and benefits from any cuts. As the DoD accounts for over 40% of total discretionary spending, targeted cuts in defense spending will be necessary in order to ever balance the budget.

"Yea" votes scored.

18: H.R. 459 - To require a full audit of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks ✔ Yea

Key Vote 18: H.R. 459 - To require a full audit of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal reserve banks

This bill would require the Comptroller of the United States to conduct a comprehensive audit of the Federal Reserve, in order to determine where this powerful and notoriously opaque private agency has been allocating the U.S. money supply. Transparency in the Federal Reserve is an essential first step to reestablishing a sound monetary policy.

"Yea" votes scored.

19: H.R. 3409 - Stop the War on Coal Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 19: H.R. 3409 - Stop the War on Coal Act

This bill would prohibit the Secretary of the Interior from promulgating upcoming regulations that would devastate the coal industry and make it nearly impossible for many companies to develop new mines. Attacking coal development will massively increase the cost of energy over a large portion of the country, further straining resources in the midst of a weak economy.

This bill is the vehicle for the deal brokered by Senator McConnell and Vice President Biden to avert the "fiscal cliff". While it extends the 2001, 2003 and 2009 tax cuts and credits for most Americans, it allows them to expire on those earning over $450,000 per year. The bill also contains a $30 billion extension of unemployment benefits, and reauthorizes the 2008 Farm Bill for nine months.
H.R. 8 allows the payroll tax holiday to expire, effectively raising taxes on 77% of taxpayers, yet extends dozens of tax credits and deductions that amount to corporate welfare for special interests. It also fails to extend the Bush-era tax cuts to all Americans, thus raising taxes at a time when economic growth is desperately needed.

2011: 112th Congress 62%

Key Vote 1: H.R. 2 - Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act

The bill would fully repeal the deeply controversial “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (ObamaCare) passed in March 2010. ObamaCare will reduce the quality and drive up the cost of health care, and contains an unconstitutional mandate requiring Americans to purchase health care simply because they exist.

"Yea" votes scored.

2: H.Amdt.16 to H.R. 1 - To cut spending by $450 million✘ Nay

Key Vote 2: H.Amdt.16 to H.R. 1 - To cut spending by $450 million

This amendment would save taxpayers $450 million by cutting the development of the superfluous second engine for the F-35 fighter jet. The military already has one functioning engine for the F-35, and this second design is a wasteful payoff to defense contractors. Even the military says that this program is not necessary.

This bill would cut the EPA's science and technology budget by $64 million. EPA programs were given massive increases in funding in 2010, and were clearly over-funded. Many of these programs are redundant and wasteful, funding scientific studies that should be left to academia and the private sector.

This amendment prohibits the use of funds to pay any employee, officer, contractor, or grantee of any department or agency to implement the provisions of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act also known as "ObamaCare."

This bill prevents the IRS from being allowed to enforce the penalty under ObamaCare for failing to enroll in a health insurance plan. Basically, this would make the unconstitutional individual mandate in ObamaCare powerless, as there would be no consequences for failing to comply with it.

This amendment would reduce all non-defense discretionary spending to 2006 levels, saving taxpayers billions of dollars in 2011 alone. This is by far the boldest of the spending cuts offered to the 2011 appropriations bill.

"Yea" votes scored.

11: H.Amdt.169 to H.R. 1 - to prevent the 2011 budget from being required to pay for inflated union wages✔ Yea

Key Vote 11: H.Amdt.169 to H.R. 1 - to prevent the 2011 budget from being required to pay for inflated union wages

This bill would prevent any projects in the 2011 budget from being required to comply with Davis-Bacon wage requirements. Davis-Bacon is a leftover from the New Deal era which costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year because it requires government contractors to pay "local prevailing wages" for every project, which usually leads to expensive union labor receiving the contracts.

"Yea" votes scored.

12: H.R. 1 - Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011✔ Yea

Key Vote 12: H.R. 1 - Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011

This omnibus appropriations bill for 2011 includes the largest single discretionary spending cut in history, cutting $106 billion from various programs and departments. While this is only a fraction of the cuts needed to rein in the government’s spending, it is a very good first step in the right direction.

This bill eliminates the 1099 reporting mandate from Obamacare. Due to a provision hidden in the 2,400 page health care law passed last March, businesses will be required to submit an IRS form 1099 for all goods and services purchased over $600 starting in 2012. This is a paperwork nightmare that will significantly hurt small businesses and cost an abundance of jobs, and must be repealed.

"Yea" votes scored.

14: H.R. 830 - FHA Refinance Program Termination Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 14: H.R. 830 - FHA Refinance Program Termination Act

The bill would eliminate the inefficient FHA Refinance Program, saving taxpayers $8 billion. This program, one of the T.A.R.P bailout programs, refinances underwater loans to the FHA, which by the government’s own admission transfers the risk on these bad investments to the taxpayer. This program should never have been created, as it is a clear violation of free market principles.

"Yea" votes scored.

15: H.R. 836 - To rescind the unobligated funding for the Emergency Mortgage Relief Program and to terminate the program✔ Yea

Key Vote 15: H.R. 836 - To rescind the unobligated funding for the Emergency Mortgage Relief Program and to terminate the program

The bill would end the Department of Housing & Urban Development’s Emergency Homeowners Relief Program, saving taxpayers $1 billion. The program provides high-loss mortgage loan subsidies to people who are very unlikely to be able to pay back the money, which merely delays the inevitable foreclosures and wastes taxpayers’ dollars.

"Yea" votes scored.

16: H.J.Res. 48 - Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2011, and for other purposes✘ Yea

Key Vote 16: H.J.Res. 48 - Making further continuing appropriations for fiscal year 2011, and for other purposes

This bill contains a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. Because the Senate has refused to pass a budget for three years, the government has been funded through these CR’s, continuing our unsustainable levels of deficit spending without even the transparency of the open budget process.

"Nay" votes scored.

17: H.R. 471 - Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 17: H.R. 471 - Scholarships for Opportunity and Results Act

This bill would reauthorize the Washington, D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provided school vouchers to allow parents in failing school districts to send their children to higher-quality schools of their choice. Congress ended this program in 2009 despite its overwhelming success.

"Yea" votes scored.

18: H.R. 910 - Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011✔ Yea

Key Vote 18: H.R. 910 - Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011

This bill, the “Energy Tax Prevention Act of 2011”, would stop Obama's cap and trade scheme by completely stripping the EPA of its ability to use the 'Clean Air Act' to regulate greenhouse gases. This is important legislation that would take serious steps towards addressing high energy costs and ensuring America's energy security.

"Yea" votes scored.

19: H.J.Res. 37 - Disapproving of the rule submitted by the FCC with respect to regulating the Internet✔ Yea

Key Vote 19: H.J.Res. 37 - Disapproving of the rule submitted by the FCC with respect to regulating the Internet

H.J. Res 37 would prohibit the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from imposing net neutrality regulations on Internet providers. These job-killing regulations would involve new government controls on the Internet that would have significant implications for investing in innovation and broadband deployment.

This substitute amendment would replace Paul Ryan's budget with the Republican Study Committee's alternative proposal, which would actually balance the federal budget in about a decade. Ryan's budget, while a step in the right direction, would not balance the budget until at least 2040 – far too slowly given the massive size of our nation’s debt.

This bill is Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget proposal for FY 2012. It would balance the federal budget by 2040 without raising taxes, and would cut $6.2 trillion over the next decade compared to President Obama’s budget. The plan reduces government spending to below 20 percent of GDP and block grants Medicaid to the states.

The bill would repeal mandatory funding provided to states in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare) to establish American Health Benefit Exchanges. The Obama administration is already using this unlimited slush fund to seduce states into collaborating in the implementation of ObamaCare and has hinted at tapping it to bail out exploding state Medicaid budgets. H.R. 1213 would strike the unlimited direct appropriation and rescind any unobligated funds.

"Yea" votes scored.

23: H.R. 1229 - Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 23: H.R. 1229 - Putting the Gulf of Mexico Back to Work Act

The bill would amend the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act to facilitate the production of American energy resources from the Gulf of Mexico. The Obama administration has delayed or canceled offshore lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico. The bill would jumpstart offshore oil drilling by implementing a 30-day deadline in which the secretary of the U.S. Interior Department would have to make a decision on the Gulf of Mexico drilling permit applications.

"Yea" votes scored.

24: On Agreeing: H.Amdt.397 to H.R. 2017 - to reduce spending of the legislation by 10%✘ Nay

Key Vote 24: On Agreeing: H.Amdt.397 to H.R. 2017 - to reduce spending of the legislation by 10%

Key Vote 25: H.Amdt. 428 to H.R. 2112 - to cut $700 million dollars in waste to pay off the debt

This amendment to the “megabus” appropriations bill would reduce funding for the Economic Research Service by $43 million; reduce funding for the National Agriculture Statistical Service by $85 million; reduce funding for the Agriculture research service by $650 million; zero out the Food for Peace program and to apply the savings towards reducing the budget deficit.

"Yea" votes scored.

26: H.Amdt. 443 to H.R. 2112 - to cut $900 million in waste and apply to a spending reduction account✘ Nay

Key Vote 26: H.Amdt. 443 to H.R. 2112 - to cut $900 million in waste and apply to a spending reduction account

Key Vote 28: H.R. 2560 - Cut, Cap, and Balance Act

This is the “Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011”, which would cut total spending for FY2012 by $111 billion, cap total federal spending, and require the passage of a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that includes a super-majority requirement to raise taxes and a limit on spending before the debt limit can be raised.

"Yea" votes scored.

29: H.Amdt. 715 to H.R. 2584 - to cut $3 billion and apply it to the spending reduction account✘ Nay

Key Vote 30: S. 365 - The Budget Control Act of 2011

This weak bill, the “Budget Control Act of 2011”, allows President Obama to raise the debt ceiling to over $16 trillion, in exchange for undetermined spending cuts to be decided by a "Super-Committee" picked from both parties. This committee is unlikely to be able to agree to any real spending cuts, and is allowed to use tax increases to create the necessary deficit reductions.

The bill would prohibit the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) from ordering any employer to close, relocate or transfer employment under any circumstance. The Protecting Jobs from Government Interference Act would help ensure that the government agency does not over step their bounds by dictating decisions made by private sector companies.

"Yea" votes scored.

32: On Passage: H.R. 2401 - To require analyses of the cumulative and incremental impacts of certain rules and actions of the EPA✔ Yea

Key Vote 32: On Passage: H.R. 2401 - To require analyses of the cumulative and incremental impacts of certain rules and actions of the EPA

This bill, the TRAIN Act, would establish an 11-member committee, chaired by the Department of Commerce, to analyze the impacts of a number of major Environment Protection Agency (EPA) regulations. This bill would push back against the EPA's unconstitutional, outrageous rules and regulations that raise energy prices for consumers, destroy jobs and increase our dependence on foreign sources of energy.

This bill was used as the vehicle for the Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government. Because the Senate has refused to pass a budget for three years, the government has been funded through these CR’s, continuing our unsustainable levels of deficit spending without even the transparency of the open budget process.

This would ratify the pending free trade agreement with South Korea. Freer trade will allow Americans to reap the benefits of competition, which include more choices, better products, and lower prices.

"Yea" votes scored.

38: H.R. 2832 - To extend the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes✘ Yea

Key Vote 38: H.R. 2832 - To extend the Generalized System of Preferences, and for other purposes

This bill picks favorites among trading partners and disrupts the price system. The biggest problem is that an amendment to extend Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) at the current, higher post-stimulus levels is attached to the bill.

"Nay" votes scored.

39: H.R. 2250 - EPA Regulatory Relief Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 39: H.R. 2250 - EPA Regulatory Relief Act

The bill would help to curtail the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Boiler MACT regulations on boilers and industrial incinerators. Boiler MACT is an unreasonable regulation that would shut down businesses and cost thousands of jobs.

This bill, titled the “REINS Act” would require a vote in Congress on any “major” regulations issued by the executive branch before it could be enforced on the American people. The REINS Act would restore accountability and protect citizens’ rights by giving elected officials a voice in all major regulations issued.

2010: 111th Congress 95%

Key Vote 1: H.J.Res. 45 - Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act

This bill contains a more than $1 trillion increase in the federal debt ceiling. Raising the debt ceiling should be accompanied by measures to cut spending so that such an increase would not be necessary in future. Instead, this bill merely contains a "pay-as-you-go" procedure which Congress can easily ignore and which does nothing to address the current record spending levels.

The HIRE Act massively increases federal highway spending and other spending in order to supposedly stimulate the economy, operating under the Keynesian fallacy that a country can spend its way to prosperity. This bill will create few private sector jobs, while burdening our economy with still more deficit spending.

This resolution is the House "Rule" that would allow consideration of the "reconciliation" bill, H.R. 4872. The reconciliation bill would make the recently passed health care legislation even worse by enacting massive tax increases and creating still more new government bureaucracies in order to support it.

This is the vote on the final passage of ObamaCare. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act neither protects patients nor provides affordable care. It would kill jobs, drive up the price of health care, bankrupt the government, and ruin the world's best health care system. The bill also contains an unconstitutional individual mandate, which forces everyone to either purchase health care or pay a penalty, violating our individual liberty.

"Nay" votes scored. Double Score

5: H.R. 4872 - Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act✔ Nay

Key Vote 5: H.R. 4872 - Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act

The reconciliation bill makes the terrible health care legislation recently enacted even worse with more job killing tax hikes, harsher penalties, and new government bureaucracies. This bill also builds a massive new student loan bureaucracy by essentially nationalizing the student loan industry.

This key vote is on the motion to concur in Senate amendments. The reconciliation bill makes the terrible health care legislation recently enacted even worse with more job killing tax hikes, harsher penalties, and new government bureaucracies. The reconciliation bill also builds a massive new student loan bureaucracy by nationalizing the student loan industry.

"Nay" votes scored.

7: On Motion to Concur: H.R. 4213 - American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act✔ Nay

The American Workers, State, and Business Relief Act of 2010 contains several tax hikes that impose significant costs on businesses and threaten job creation. One undesirable tax increase included in the bill is the elimination of the punitive damages tax deduction. Another added tax increase is a new tax on carried interest.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act would impose new mandates, fees, and regulations on the nation's financial services sector and create a permanent $150 billion Wall Street bailout fund. Although it claims to prevent another financial meltdown like that of 2008, this bill actually institutionalizes the very financial practices and moral hazard that led to the crisi in the first place. It also creates a massive new regulatory apparatus with several agencies, such as the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), that have sweeping new powers but are generally unaccountable to Congress and the American public.

The Unemployment Compensation Extension Act of 2010 would extend unemployment benefits to November 30th for the long-term jobless. It would not boost job growth and it would add to our skyrocketing national debt.

"Nay" votes scored.

10: On the Motion to Concur: H.R. 4899 - Making emergency supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and summer jobs✘ Yea

This would make emergency supplemental appropriations for disaster relief and summer jobs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2010, and for other purposes. This bill would add to our national debt.

This bill in its present form would authorize over $26 billion for an "education jobs fund", and would extend continue increased funding for the "Federal Medical Assistance Percentages" for Medicaid. The "pay-for" for this bill is a $9.6 billion tax increase, and even with the tax hike the bill would still add billions to our the nation's deficit spending.

"Nay" votes scored.

13: On Motion to Concur: H.R. 5297 - Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010✔ Nay

The Small Business Lending Fund Act of 2010 would allocate $30 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program to a new fund for financial institutions with less than $10 billion in assets. The legislation would also create a new $2 billion federal program to encourage states to develop initiatives to increase access to capital for small businesses.

This bill is the vehicle for reauthorizing the Bush 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which were set to expire at the end of 2010. However, the bill would allow the tax cuts to expire for the wealthiest tiers of income earners - a bad policy at any time, but even worse at a time when the economy is recovering from a recession. The bill would also reinstate the death tax. Soaking the rich will not fund our excessive government spending, and will further harm a precariously shaky economy.

H.R. 3082 would fund the government for the next ten months at current 2010 levels. With Congress failing to pass any of the required 12 annual appropriation bills, leaders have opted to put forth a massive $1.1 trillion continuing resolution that includes a number of costly provisions.

This spending bill would double authorized funding levels for scientific research agencies within ten years. Research and development are best left to the academy and the marketplace, instead of allowing the government to potentially use taxpayer dollars to favor research that suits a political agenda.

The FDA Food "Safety" Modernization Act would grant the federal government unprecedented control over our diets while not making our food any safer. The bill imposes new regulations upon farmers and other food producers and also requires the government to hire a troop thousands of new bureaucrats to enforce the new rules. They will be funded by "such sums as may be necessary." Besides wasting taxpayer dollars directly, the cost of producers complying with these new regulations will simply be passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices. Outbreaks of food-borne illnesses have decreased dramatically in frequency in recent decades, and there is simply no need for such an intrusive and expensive new set of regulations on food safety.

H.R. 3082 would fund the government for the next ten months at current 2010 levels. With Congress failing to pass any of the required 12 annual appropriation bills, leaders have opted to put forth a massive $1.1 trillion continuing resolution that includes a number of costly provisions.

2009: 111th Congress 95%

Key Vote 1: H.R. 12 - Paycheck Fairness Act

The Paycheck Fairness Act would enforce more strictly the wage provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 in order to address a perceived wage "gender gap". Instead, its provisions are an invitation to increase lawsuits with no end in sight for compensation. We should not be heaping more financial burdens on our business institutions and taking away the power of employers to make sound personnel decisions - all because of a misunderstood statistic.

"Nay" votes scored.

2: H.R. 11 - Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act✔ Nay

Key Vote 2: H.R. 11 - Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act

This bill would amend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to permit discrimination claims against employers well outside of the current statute of 180 days. This presents a radical departure from current anti-discrimination laws. Doing away with any practical statute of limitations, which has been considered a just practice in courts for centuries, opens the flood gates to a river of frivolous lawsuits.

The $700 billion in Wall Street bailout funds authorized by TARP was a bad policy in its own right, and the actual use of those funds has been even more troubling. The "TARP Reform and Accountability Act" fails to adequately protect these taxpayer funds or safeguard how they are being used. This motion to recommit would have stopped the unused $350 billion in TARP funding from being spent at all, and would have forced the Treasury Department to submit a repayment plan for those bailout funds which have already been spent.

This legislation calls for spending an additional $33 billion over the next five years to expand coverage under the S-CHIP program. At a time when our nation is facing record-breaking deficits in the trillions of dollars, expanding autopilot spending programs should not be on the agenda.

This bill would create $787 billion in new government spending on projects designed to stimulate an economic recovery. It is neither the government's role, nor is it within its ability, to spend the economy into prosperity. This stimulus package merely spends a fortune in taxpayers' hard-earned money to give away to whatever special interests are best able to claim that they can "create jobs".

"Nay" votes scored.

6: H.R. 1105 - Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009✔ Nay

Key Vote 6: H.R. 1105 - Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2009

This bill to fund the federal government contains a whopping 80 percent spending increase and is packed with earmarks and sweeping policy changes. Altogether, this omnibus bill increases government spending at more than double the rate of inflation and almost triple the rate of median growth in household incomes. With budget deficits already running at record highs, this bill just accelerates Washington's already out-of-control spending.

"Nay" votes scored.

7: H.R. 1106 - Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009✔ Nay

Key Vote 7: H.R. 1106 - Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009

This legislation allows bankruptcy judges to modify home mortgages - including reducing principal - rather than leaving those business decisions in the hands of the banks and lenders who own the homes. The act modifies the Hope for Homeowners program by removing the taxpayer protections in place, making it easier for those who took mortgages they could not afford to receive a taxpayer-funded bailout.

This amendment sought to remove all Davis-Bacon prevailing wage provisions from the 2009 water resources bill. Davis-Bacon is a leftover from the New Deal era which costs taxpayers billions of dollars each year because it requires government contractors to pay "local prevailing wages" for every project, which really means letting expensive union labor receive the contracts regardless of other competition.

Their budget taxes too much, spends too much, and borrows too much. And, potentially worst of all, it would open the door for socialized medicine and a massive energy tax to be enacted later this year without substantial debate through the reconciliation process.

"Nay" votes scored.

10: H.R. 2346 - Supplemental Appropriations, FY 2009✘ Yea

Key Vote 10: H.R. 2346 - Supplemental Appropriations, FY 2009

The bill includes a $100 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. The bill contains funding for other projects that should not be used as a vehicle to ram IMF funding through Congress. Using this method to get the IMF funding passed is dirty Washington politics and law makers should reject it.

"Nay" votes scored.

11: On Motion to Concur: H.R. 1256 - Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act✔ Nay

This legislation marks a radical increase in power for the Food and Drug Administration over the tobacco industry, and another attempt by a parental government to make citizens' health choices for them.

The bill includes a $100 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout. The bill contains funding for other projects that should not be used as a vehicle to ram IMF funding through Congress. Using this method to get the IMF funding passed is dirty Washington politics and law makers should reject it.

The Waxman-Markey energy bill calls for a “cap-and-trade” system for the regulation of greenhouse gases, and is, in essence, a massive tax on all energy use. The resulting spike in energy costs would devastate the economy across the board, and would particularly harm lower-income individuals, who would have even less money to spend on steadily rising electric and heating bills.

This bill introduces federal control of employee compensation to a degree that is both constitutionally questionable and has no place in a market economy. Perhaps most startling about this bill is that the new mandates it establishes on the private sector are so broad and ill-defined that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is unable to determine just how much these rules will cost the economy, making it impossible to conduct a cost-benefit analysis.

The bill would essentially provide an endless line of credit to college students, as well as greatly increasing the amount given out through Pell Grants. Guaranteeing students access to free, easy loans on grants will encourage them to take on more debt that they cannot afford, while colleges will continue to raise their tuition to match the flow of government money. This bill further expands the massive student loan debt bubble, which - like the housing bubble before it - will eventually burst.

"Nay" votes scored.

16: H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act✔ Nay

Key Vote 16: H.R. 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act

(Note: this was the original version of ObamaCare, later passed as H.R. 3590.) This comprehensive government takeover of health care saddles hundreds of billions of dollars in new taxes upon the American people. The bill contains an unconstitutional individual mandate forcing people to buy health insurance simply because they exist. Instead of making health care more affordable, this bill's mandates and regulations will massively increase the cost of everyone's health insurance and reduce the quality of care over time.

This bill contains the "doc fix" that Congress passes annually in order to keep Medicare payments to doctors from sharply decreasing. While the doc fix may be necessary in order to keep doctors from opting out of seeing Medicare patients, this bill would cost $200 billion over ten years, with no spending reforms to offset its huge expense. Separating this bill from the main comprehensive health care reform bill is thus a fundamentally dishonest attempt to hide the true costs of the massive health care takeover being discussed in Congress, and to kick the problem of Medicare reform down the road yet again.

While this bill claims to enact "permanent estate tax relief", the legislation puts in place a permanent 45 percent tax on estates over $3.5 million. A 45 percent tax is a dramatic tax increase over the zero percent death tax that will be in place in 2010, when death is scheduled to no longer be a taxable event.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010, or so-called “minibus” would combine six of the seven remaining appropriations bills to fund nine Cabinet departments to the tune of $447 billion and $600 billion in funding for Medicare and Medicaid for a total of $1.1 trillion; a 13% increase over FY 2009 and a 25% increase over FY 2008.

This motion to recommit would have amended the Dodd-Frank bill to fully repeal the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), and to reduce the national debt limit by an amount corresponding to the hundreds of billions that would be saved by TARP's repeal.

The "Dodd-Frank" bill not only fails in its stated goal of reining in the risky lending that led to the current fiscal crisis, it actually institutionalizes the practice of bailing out banks deemed to be "too big to fail". By telling Wall Street banks that irresponsible lending will be rewarded by government bailouts, this bill almost guarantees another financial bubble and collapse in the future.

2008: 110th Congress 74%

Key Vote 1: H.Amdt. 928 to H.R. 3524 - Prevents wage restrictions

This amendment would prevent funds in the bill from being used to fund Davis-Bacon Act wage requirements. The Davis-Bacon Act is an obsolete and destructive wage control program which requires that employees be paid at the "prevailing local wage". Because this prevailing wage is usually artificially set by unions, Davis Bacon essentially forces government contractors to hire more expensive union labor, wasting taxpayer dollars.

This motion, by Speaker Pelosi, would kill the Columbia Free Trade Agreement. Free trade encourages both imports and exports between countries, and creates wealth and jobs on both sides of the agreement.

"Nay" votes scored.

4: H.R. 5818 - Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008✔ Nay

Key Vote 4: H.R. 5818 - Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008

The bill, which provides $15 billion in loans and grants to states and cities to buy foreclosed properties, is a prime example of out-of-control government spending that would do little to address the underlying problems in the housing sector.

This amendment would impose a so-called "Patriot Tax" on upper income brackets. Raising taxes upon these high income brackets does great harm to the small business owners who are the engine for growth in America's economy.

The bill, a shallow attempt to rein in gas prices, is eerily reminiscent of the very policies that led to shortages and gas lines in the 1970s and early 1980s. It would over-regulate energy prices and prevent free market allocation.

Key Vote 9: H.R. 415 - To amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act

This bill's real purpose, while purporting to protect wildlife and natural scenery, is to prevent the installation of an efficient and environmentally beneficial natural gas terminal. This bill only hinders energy production and economic progress.

This bill creates more government interference in energy markets, essentially imposing a "use it or lose it" rule upon oil lands. This rule would make it nearly impossible for many oil-rich areas to be developed, which merely harms consumers and prevents the creation of jobs.

This is the final vote on the bill that provided a massive (up to $300 billion) bailout to the "Government Sponsored Entities" Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These two GSEs were in danger of bankruptcy because of their irresponsibly loose lending practices, and they should have been allowed to go bankrupt instead of putting taxpayers on the hook for their misbehavior. In addition, the bill contains an $800 billion increase in the debt ceiling.

"Nay" votes scored. Double Score

12: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: H.R. 1108 - Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act✔ Nay

Key Vote 12: On Motion to Suspend the Rules and Pass: H.R. 1108 - Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

The House bill includes language that allows the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to impose new "user fees" to cover the costs of its expanded regulatory program. The user fee would no longer be a "fee for service' that covers the agency’s costs—it would be a new tax.

H.R. 6604 is a premature action by Congress to pin the current energy problem on commodities future traders rather than address the real problem of supply. The consequences of the legislation are greater intervention in markets and an expansion of government into the reach of private contracts.

This bill is a vehicle for the massive government bank bailout, including the Troubled Assets Relief Program (T.A.R.P.). Bailing out banks that have made bad investments distorts the free market by creating a 'moral hazard'. If banks know that the government will bail them out of their bad decisions just because they are "too big to fail", they have no incentive to make wise investment decisions. FreedomWorks has double-weighted votes against this bill.

This bill would provide a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry. FreedomWorks strongly opposes this bill because it rewards those institutions which caused the financial collapse in the first place by making reckless loans. Bailing them out creates the moral hazard that these banks and lenders will recognize that they can continue to make risky loans without fear of consequences as long as they are "too big to fail".

This legislation would provide $14 billion in taxpayer loans to eligible U.S. automakers. Like T.A.R.P., this bailout would create moral hazard for the failing car companies. This bill picks winners and losers, while the market should be allowed to adjust to changes.

2007: 110th Congress 74%

Key Vote 1: H.R. 2 - Fair Minimum Wage Act

The Fair Minimum Wage Act would allow for an increase in the minimum wage from $5.15 per hour to $7.25 per hour over two years. According to CBO estimates, a minimum wage increase would saddle small businesses with up to $7 billion in added costs.

"Nay" votes scored.

2: H.R. 800 - The Employee Free Choice Act✔ Nay

Key Vote 2: H.R. 800 - The Employee Free Choice Act

This is the "Card Check Bill," which will make it easier for unions to unionize workers in the private sector. It will eliminate most of the secrecy in union balloting, allowing union intimidation of workers.

This bill would amend the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to force shareholder review of executive compensation, which would open the door for increased federal intrusion into the private sector. Although transparency in executive compensation is necessary, many shareholders already have this privilege under their company’s bylaws.

This legislation would make it a federal crime to sell crude oil, gas, natural gas or petroleum at a price that is “unconscionably excessive” or “takes unfair advantage” of unordinary market conditions. This legislation mandates severe fines for any violations including market manipulation, false price reporting and unconscionable prices.

"Nay" votes scored.

5: H.R. 3043 - Making appropriations for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education✔ Nay

Key Vote 5: H.R. 3043 - Making appropriations for the Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education

This $607 million spending bill will end up costing $152 million in 2008 thus exceeding the president’s budget by more than $10 million. In addition, it would spend $7 million more than the current levels and more than $2.3 million more than the Senate version. In addition to exceeding the budget, this bill is also loaded with pork projects and represents the out of control spending going on in Congress.

Funded by a $0.45 increase in the federal cigarette excise tax and a nearly 200% raise in taxes on cigars, the SCHIP reauthorization proposal calls for up to $50 billion in new funds for the program, dwarfing the President’s current request of $5 billion over 5 years. In addition to greatly expanding a program that was originally designed to be a limited contribution to State health services, this bill would be a giant step toward government controlled health care.

This bill would authorize over $43 billion over 3 years to fund at least 40 new federal programs for various agencies including the National Science Foundation, National Institute of Science and Technology, and the Departments of Commerce, Education and Energy. The size and scope of the funding that emerged from the conference report drastically exceeds the original House version where $23 billion was allocated for 20 new programs. It not only represents the reckless spending that has come to characterize Congress, but also is a drastic and irresponsible expansion of the size of government.

This amendment to the “New Direction for Energy Independence, National Security, and Consumer Protection Act” would create a mandate requiring the use of renewable portfolio standard for generating electricity starting in 2010 with the goal of forcing electric utilities to produce 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Energy providers who did not comply would be penalized by being forced to purchase renewable energy from other generators in the form of utility credits or pay the difference to the federal government.

The bill would hit our energy suppliers with billions of dollars in new taxes. New taxes on oil and its providers will only lead to increased cost of production which will be passed onto consumers in the form of higher prices on gas, natural gas and electric utilities. Even though alternative energy holds promise for the future, federal mandates and taxes will not make the technology viable any faster. All that this bill will do is increase taxes and the price of fuel for the consumer.

This legislation calls for spending $33 billion over the next five years to expand coverage of the S-CHIP program. S-CHIP would be a massive increase in health care entitlements, and only exacerbates the underlying problem of increasing health care costs and reliance upon third-party payers in health care. It will also cost tens of billions of dollars at a time when the government is already incurring massive, unsustainable deficits. The bill, as passed, would vastly expand government controlled health care coverage to cover individuals up to 300% above the poverty line.

This legislation would add layers of bureaucracy to a situation already bogged down in government regulations and mismanagement. Not only does the act duplicate the efforts of the existing HUD department, at the same time the trust would compete with HUD for already limited funds. Whereas the government needs to be streamlining and modernizing a department, H.R. 2895 creates an increasingly complex web of uncertain funding and extraneous administration, making this act, in essence, the appendix of the housing conundrum.

This bill calls for $50 billion in new funding for the program that far exceeds the $5 billion requested by the President. In addition to greatly expanding a program that was originally designed to be a limited contribution to State health services, this bill would be a giant step toward government controlled health care.

"Nay" votes scored.

13: H.R. 505 - Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act✔ Nay

Key Vote 13: H.R. 505 - Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act

This bill would provide a process for the reorganization of a Native Hawaiian governing body and reaffirm the “special political and legal relationship between the United States” and the governing body. According to the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2000 case of Rice v. Cayetano, any preferential treatment that the native Hawaiian population enjoys runs contrary to the 15th Amendment’s protection against racial discrimination.

This bill calls for $50 billion in new funding for the program that far exceeds the $5 billion requested by the President. In addition to greatly expanding a program that was originally designed to be a limited contribution to State health services, this bill would be a giant step toward government controlled health care.

This bill would permanently ban taxation of the Internet, which would encourage the free dissemination of technology and information. If the Internet were allowed to be taxed, then it could also be regulated. This would result not only in an additional tax on consumers, businesses, and schools, but also could open the door to censorship.

"Yea" votes scored.

16: H.R. 1495 - Water Resources Development Act✘ Yea

Key Vote 16: H.R. 1495 - Water Resources Development Act

This water projects bill is bloated with over 900 special-interest earmarks, which far exceeds the $4.9 billion requested by the Army Corps of Engineers. The bill does not set any priorities and would result in funding for truly essential projects, like protections in Louisiana against future hurricanes, being drowned out in a sea of pork.

"Nay" votes scored.

17: H.R. 3688 - United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement✔ Yea

Key Vote 17: H.R. 3688 - United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement

This amendment would reduce tariffs for 80% of U.S. consumer and industrial exports to Peru and would phase out the remaining tariffs over the next ten years. Free trade not only drives the efficiency of the global economy, but is also essential to the freedom of American citizens to buy and sell legal goods without government interference.

"Yea" votes scored.

18: H.R. 3996 - Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007✔ Nay

Key Vote 18: H.R. 3996 - Temporary Tax Relief Act of 2007

While providing tax relief for some, this bill contains a tax increase on carried interest and private equity, expatriates, and deferred compensation. Additionally, H.R. 3996 would delay another tax cut for 8 years, which essentially amounts to a tax increase.

This bill imposes unnecessary regulations and exposes lenders to increased liability, which will have the net effect of making mortgage loans harder to get for many Americans. Although mortgage reform is necessary, H.R. 3915 fails to set clear guidelines for lending companies and opens the door for lawsuit abuse.

"Nay" votes scored.

20: H.Amdt. 890 to H.R. 3355 - Omnibus Spending Bill✔ Yea

Key Vote 20: H.Amdt. 890 to H.R. 3355 - Omnibus Spending Bill

This bill contains more than 8,000 earmarks for special-interest projects. In addition to the large amount of earmarks, the bill also contains several budget gimmicks designed to hide the addition $14 billion in unnecessary Congressional spending.

Key Vote 4: H.R. 5429 - American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act

The American Made Energy and Good Jobs Act would privately develop domestic oil reserves. This is a critical step in the long term strategy of reducing American dependence on foreign sources of energy and of developing low-cost energy in this country.

An amendment to prohibit any of the funds in the bill from being used for the Institute for Exploration at Mystic Aquarium in New London, Connecticut. This is an unnecessary program that the federal government should not be involved in.

"Yea" votes scored.

8: H.R. 4890 - Legislative Line Item Veto Act✘ Nay

Key Vote 8: H.R. 4890 - Legislative Line Item Veto Act

H.R. 4890 would give the President the authority to isolate unnecessary or wasteful spending provisions in bills that have passed Congress and send these specific line items back to Congress for a timely up-or-down vote. This would allow for greater control over spending.

This legislation moves the United States closer to the goal of creating a region-wide Middle East free trade area by 2013. An agreement with Oman would mark the fifth such nation in the Middle East with open trade ties to the United States. Free trade agreements allow Americans to buy and sell goods in more markets.

2005: 109th Congress 71%

Key Vote 1: S. 5 - Class Action Fairness Act of 2005

S. 5 is a major step towards stopping lawsuit abuse by limiting venue shopping by trial lawyers. Unscrupulous attorneys often bring cases to a handful of state ‘tort hellholes’ where judges and juries consistently produce unreasonable awards with national economic impact. This new legislation would move the largest cases to federal courts, where judges are better equipped to consider the national scope of each case.

The amendment would reduces spending by 2% compared to last year's level (the Budget Committee calls for a .7% reduction), which is over $5.1 billion more in first-year savings than the Committee's bill. It includes reconciliation instructions reducing the rate of growth of mandatory spending from 6.4% to 6.1%.

Key Vote 6: H.R. 22 - Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act

This bill fails to bring the market discipline the postal system needs and acts as yet another taxpayer bailout of the Postal Service. The US Postal Service desperately needs reform, but H.R. 22 is not reform.

Key Vote 14: H.R. 1606 - Online Freedom of Speech Act

H.R. 1606 would amend the Federal Election Campaign Act to exclude Internet communications from the Act’s definition of “public communication.” The bill is commonly regarded as the “blogger protection” bill since it addresses concerns that bloggers who regularly engage in mass public communications will become subject to federal campaign finance regulations—- especially if they reference a federal candidate 30 days before a primary election or 60 days before a general election. Of course, all restrictions on speech content offend the Constitution, but protecting bloggers will be a good first step.

"Yea" votes scored.

15: H.R. 4128 - Private Property Rights Protection Act✔ Yea

Key Vote 15: H.R. 4128 - Private Property Rights Protection Act

This bill would curb eminent domain abuse by withholding federal economic development funds from states and localities that engage in eminent domain abuse. Limiting the government's ability to enforce eminent domain will protect private property from government overreach.